Let · a · smile · be · your · umbrella

So, when I got up today, I think I've been as shocked and worried as I've ever been. First, just hearing that the London subways had been bombed was shock enough. A split-second after hearing about it, though, I remembered that Olga is still in England and was possibly in London(although I checked her journal and, thankfully, she wasn't there today). And then, that Bethany is going to London, albeit in August, but still, stay safe bellichka because I definitely want to see you this fall in Wooster. My heart goes out to anyone who knew those who died or were injured in the bombing.

I felt that it was time for an update so here it is. I am home for the summer (again) and it's going fairly well so far. I'm working at Barnes and Noble still, but I'm also volunteering at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! It's just at the reception desk, but hey, it's a foot in the door at least. And at B&N, we're getting ready for the Harry Potter party on the 15th!!! I signed up to work it, too, which should prove to be interesting and hopefully fun. Of course, it could backfire and put me off having kids for the rest of my life; I shall have to wait and see. Oh, and an interesting development has occurred. A friend of mine from work, Erica, is setting me up with her cousin who is a firefighter. I'm not really sure what to expect but she said he's got a very sarcastic sense of humor, so I like him already. She also said that all three of us would just hang out as she doesn't want to put either of us in a blind date situation. More on that as news comes in.

I've also been doing a lot of reading this summer. The best books I've read so far are 'The Shadow of the Wind.' Everyone should go out and read it because it's superbly written!, 'The Egyptologist,' 'The Handmaid's Tale,' and 'The Things They Carried (holy cow, this was great!!). Movies have also been on my agenda, specifically Myster Science Theater 3000 movies. I now own volumes 1 and 2 of the series on DVD. Plus I have Freaks and Geeks on DVD (anyone else seen this? Was it not one of the best shows on TV?!) as well as the second season of Popular; I can't help it, I loved that show even if it was almost overly preachy at times. Oh, and the first season of Deadwood, which is an awesome televison show on HBO. I must say I love Timothy Olyphant. And I'm now the proud owner of 'The Machinist' starring my favorite actor, Christian Bale, although I haven't yet had time to watch the movie. That's about it in Dayna-land, I think. Bye for now!

P.S. Hi twinkie_goddess! Just wanted to let you know that bot Liz (music manager Liz) and Stephanie (receiving) have moved into the Portland area and I'm thinking about going out to visit them later this summer!

If you're on the phone and you're roommate is in the room, is it too much to ask that YOU DON'T FUCKING YELL YOUR ENTIRE CONVERSATION?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I've become addicted to facebook. That and I've been working on my I.S. a lot. And I mean a lot. Go ahead, ask me about John Ford westerns that feature Indians. I dare you. Well, not really, but everything I've been reading for the last few weeks has had to do with his films or with him. By the way, The Searchers and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon are great movies. They actually stand the test of time.

In other news, I get a single next semester!! There were left over rooms from single room draw last night and as I had a good number, I was one of the people notified of this. All of which means that I don't have to go through room draw to get a single!!! Also, I've picked out the classes I want to take for next semester. With any luck I'll be taking Peoples and Cultures of Latin America, American Conservatism, Senior I.S., and Intro to Yoga (I need .25 credits). I'll also be a T.A. for Professor Roche's class, The American West! And I won't have any classes on Tuesday or Thursday!! Of course, that could turn out to be bad due to my general procastination, but I'm calling it a good thing.

Work goes on pretty much as usual. No one new has really come in, but there will be newbies soon, as we're hiring for the summer season. I hope they don't hire another Chanda. That girl does nothing. And you know someone's a bad worker when you find books hidden beneath the information desk upstairs. Sigh. I'm still trying to figure out why she hasn't been fired yet. Ow!! Okay, so that hurts my head. I'm going to go watch some Coupling.

I found this on a shirt while in Hot topic and just had to share :)

"Some people are like a Slinky®, not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs."

Hello again all! Well, I've been back here for about 20 days (it seems like much longer let me assure you). I start up school again on the 17th (oh joy, oh rapture, oh shit) and I still don't know where I'm going to be living thanks to Wooster's crack residency team. They'll be getting a call from me on Monday. Anywho, not much has really been going on. Earlier this week tsilladwen had a get together at her house,which was a lot of fun as I actually got to see my friends again (although mithedhelwen and Bryan stopped by B&N to see me). Then, last night, I went out with Adam and Tim, two work people, to go see Jay (a former work person) and his band play at the Robin Hood in Kent. Anyone who likes hardcore metal should listen to these guys, they're good (they're called This New Dawn, btw)! We basically just hung out for the rest of the night, which was cool even if it was a bit loud in the bar. Then I dropped Tim off and another of his friend's apartment and I came back and went to bed. And all that before 1 a.m. Good gravy I'm getting old! Tonight, I'm just hanging out with mithedhelwen which will be cool. Well, that's about it. Now I'm off to read more of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (a very good book, btw).

Let me think, what's been going on since I last updated? Well, last weekend was London Weekend so Loren, Alicia and I took the train there. It took us four hours because of a derailment in between York and Doncaster. Once there, though, we went to this Indian restaurant where I had the BEST Indian food I have ever had in my entire life! The next day (Saturday), while everyone else went to Buckingham Palace and the like, I took my little self up to the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, without getting lost, I might add. They were really cool museums, I especially liked the Portrait gallery. That evening was our costume party on boat. It was all right, but it wasn't as good as I expected to be. On that Sunday, we were given brunch and Loren, Alicia, and I walked around Kensington Gardens and saw the Peter Pan statue. Once back in York, I tried to go to ASDA, but apparently it closes at freaking 4 p.m. on Sundays, so I went all the way out there for nothing. On Tuesday, was another meeting of DougSoc and this time it was 80s TV night. We watched 'Count Duckula', 'He-Man', 'Danger Mouse', Thomas the Tank Engine', (the ones I remember) 'Knightmare', 'Tugs', and 'Dogtanian.' All in all, a very amusing way to spend the evening. On Friday, I saw the film Broken Arrow (it's for my group project in my history class) which is further testament to the horrid acting that is Jimmy Stewart. I also saw Rome + Juliet for the first time (the Baz Luhrman version) and must admit I quite liked it. John Leguizamo was especially good, as was the guy who played Mercution. On Saturday, Erin, Alicia, Courtney, Olga, and I went to watch our Brit friend Ryan play in a football match. Sadly, we were late and missed his goal (the only one that York scored) and we froze our damn butts off. But we warmed up eventually. Courtney and Olga made Erin and I grilled cheese sandwiches, which were quite yummy, and then I went back to my room and watched SNL's the Best of Will Farrell (borrowed from Courtney). And now, I'm off to do some more of nothing much (i.e. finishing Dress to Kill, a comedy special featuring Eddie Izzard)

It's been an interesting few days, to say the least. On Monday, I stayed out way later than I should have. Courtney, Olga, Erin, and I went to Ikon and Diva, a british night club here in York, with Tom, Ryan and Rianne (all people from Erin's floor). It was a lot of fun, but we didn't get back until about 1:30 and I didn't get back to my dorm until 2:15. All this and I had a 9:15 lecture on Tuesday. I made it to class and managed to stay awake, but as soon as I got back to my room, I went to sleep for five hours. Then, I made myself get up and eat something and watched Pirates of the Caribbean. At 8:00 I went to Van Brugh bar to meet up with the rest of DougSoc, a society I joined here. We proceeded to Goodricke's old dining room where we played Brockian Ultra Cricket (aka inflateable death)!!!!! It was a blast! After the competition, we went over to the lounge area of goodricke and had Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters and sat around and talked. I have to say, the person I most liked was this guy name Gary. He was absolutely hilarious and he's so adorable. I think I might even fancy him just a bit. But, as I'm only here for two months, I'm not sure getting involved with anyone would be the best of ideas. Plus, every guy I've met here seems to have only one idea of having a good time: Getting wasted every night! I must say, I don't understand it. Plus, I've yet to meet a guy (other than Jeppe or Welsh Dave) who actually has a serious side. I don't mind people who are funny and wild, but if that's all they are, then I don't want to be around them all the time. I don't know, I guess I'm just mature in different ways than they are. Anywho, I need to trek on up to Wentworth and check out my sociology classes timetable.

Had my first class yesterday. I think it will be interesting but I felt totally horrible after the briefing because basically everyone else in the class ignored me (well, except for these two people who seem really nice, so hopefully the others are just shy or something). I spent the rest of the day doing nothing much until about 4:30, when I went over to Langwith College to hang out with Courtney, one of the girls from my orientation group. At around 7:30, Courtney, Olga, Erin and I went down to the Langwith bar for Karoake (spelled wrong, I know, but I don't know how to spell it) Night. I think Olga was the only one in the entire place who actually had a good voice. Although, Courtney did do an awesome rendition of The Real Slim Shady. Part way through the night, though, I had to run to the bathroom and I sat on the toilet for a few minutes crying (don't worry, I put the lid down first :) ). I don't really know why either. The only explanation I could think of was that it's that time of the month and I tend to get a bit emotional when it happens. After the karoke was done, we went outside and I showed the rest how to do the Electric Slide texan style. Then, these two guys came out and started talking to us. Their names are Dave and Jebba (pronounced yebba). They were really nice, although Dave said his first impression of me was that I was a hard-core bitch! I've never in my life been called that, so I'm wondering, how many of you (that I've met) thought I was a bitch the first time you met me? Do I come off that way often? This shouldn't be bothering me, but it is. Oh, well. Anyway, I better get going since I have some mail to send.

Hello from York! I've been doing pretty well for the past week. I first went to London for a week of orientation where I met a bunch of cool people. Then we went on our family visit in Wakefield, England. And now we're here in York awaiting the start of classes. I met this really cool Dutch girl name Leontine and her friend Evelyn. Tomorrow, we're planning a trip out to ASDA, the English Wal-Mart, to buy some much needed items (i.e. hairdryer and extra pillow as the pillow I got from the school is absolute crap). I have my first class on Thursday and I'll try to udate shortly after to let everyone know how it goes. This post would be longer, but I still have to some other things. So until next time, cheers!